


The Manifestation

by segerge



Series: TASK FORCE [44]
Category: HERO Champions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 18:12:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6481510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segerge/pseuds/segerge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(April 2006) Kara Lerner, in the TASK FORCE universe the daughter of Ted 'Ranger' Jameson and Aida "Ha'Pele" Lerner ("O Little Town"), begins to manifest powers.  This attracts the attention of Doctor Destroyer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Manifestation

**Author's Note:**

> **warnings** : language, graphic death scene
> 
> * * *
> 
> #### DRAMATIS PERSONAE
> 
> **heroes**
> 
>   * LTG Ted Jameson (AKA Ranger), Director of PRIMUS, disgustingly-powerful speedster
>   * Olivia d'Alembert (AKA Thelambra), supermodel, wife of Ted Jameson, luck-based Empyrean telekinetic
>   * Aida Lerner (AKA Ha'Pele), psionic MOSSAD agent
> 

> 
> **Sher family**
> 
>   * Neil Sher, retired Major with the IDF
>   * Dr. Judith Sher (nee Shapiro), professor of Astronomy at Tel Aviv University, his wife
>   * Jocelyn Sher, their daughter
>   * Kara Lerner, adopted daughter of Aida Lerner and Ted Jameson
> 

> 
> **Villains**
> 
>   * Abd Al'Mughni, Palestinian terrorist and mutant with desolidification powers
>   * James Harmon III (AKA Shadow Destroyer), alternate-timeline version of Doctor Destroyer with technomancic and Qliphotic powers
> 

> 
> **AUTHOR'S NOTE 1** : Telepathy is denoted by (( )), internal monologue by [[ ]], Hebrew in « »
> 
> **AUTHOR'S NOTE 2** : Some familiarity with the 5th edition _Champions_ supplement 'News of the World' and the stories 'Piranharecho,' 'Extinction Event,' and 'O Little Town' are helpful but not necessary to understand the plot of this story.
> 
> * * *

**PROLOGUE** : Tel Aviv, Israel. Nighttime

(Kara Lerner is dreaming. Or, more precisely, having a nightmare)

(The sky overhead is not only black, it is *shining* black. Vast, warped planes jut out of the ruins of Tel Aviv in all directions, some even hovering in mid-air in defiance to any law of gravity which might be in operation. Kara flinches as she sees something indistinct out of the corner of her eye vanish behind nearby ruins)

**Kara** : "What IS this place?"

**Voice** : "My home."

(she turns to behold a humanoid figure in blue-black armor with gold accents and a flowing red cape. The armor is a fascinating mixture of futuristic and medieval styles)

**Kara** : "Who are you?"

**Voice** : "Its ruler." (beat) "You can call me James, if it will make you feel more comfortable."

**Kara** : "You look like Doctor Destroyer."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "*He* looked like me. It is not my fault your world has mistaken me for Albert Zerstoiten come back from the dead."

**Kara** : "Why did you bring me here?"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "You brought yourself here, Kara."

**Kara** : "Why?"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "You have great potential, Kara Lerner. Potential which is beginning to stir and become operant."

**Kara** : "I've been feeling weird for about a week or so..."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "How so?"

**Kara** : "It's... like I can hear people speak but they aren't really speaking."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Like your biological mother. Hm."

**Kara** : "Then there are other times I have felt a burning in my hands."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Considering your parentage, that's... interesting." (beat) "Have you told anyone else?"

**Kara** : "I don't dare. My step-parents wouldn't understand, and the moment my biological mom finds out I'll get drafted into MOSSAD."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "And that disturbs you?"

**Kara** (angry): "I don't want to turn into EITHER of my mothers! Biological Mom the superweapon or stepmom who's afraid of her own shadow!"

(there is a sudden, piercing BEEP-BEEP-BEEP echoing around Kara's dreamscape. Kara jerks around abruptly, then just as abruptly jerks awake. She smells smoke, and to her horror sees her sheets smouldering)

**Kara** : ((HELP ME! MY BED'S ON FIRE!!))

(there is a commotion outside her bedroom, and her stepsister Jocelyn Sher is the first to arrive)

**Jocelyn** : "Ohmigod! Kara!!"

(thinking quickly, she yanks the still-smouldering sheets off of Kara's bed as their father Neil arrives in the bedroom with a fire extinguisher. He douses the sheets with a shot from the extinguisher. Tense pause as everyone looks at each other)

**Jocelyn** (to her father): "That's the third time this week! What do we do?"

**Neil** : "I'll need to make a phone call, tomorrow..."

**Kara** : ((NO!))

**Neil** (beat): "You know, maybe I was a bit too hasty..."

**Jocelyn** : "DAD?!? What are you DOING?"

**Neil** (leaving Kara's bedroom): "Go back to bed, Jocelyn."

(Neil leaves. Tense pause while Jocelyn and Kara look at each other)

**Jocelyn** : "Why are you mind-controlling them?"

**Kara** : "Is that why they won't call my mother?"

**Jocelyn** : "The other two times this has happened, Kara, Dad said he was going to call your mother, you screamed, and he backed off. Just like tonight!" (beat) "You weren't exactly swaying them with logic any of those times!"

(tense pause, held gaze)

**Jocelyn** : "You're mind-controlling them, Kara. Just like your mother!"

**Kara** : "No, I'm not!"

**Jocelyn** : "Let us help you, Kara..."

**Kara** : "I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP..."

(a gout of fire pulses above one of her hands. Kara looks at it, alarmed)

**Jocelyn** (turning to leave): "How many of us have to die before you let us help you?"

* * *

(Tel Aviv, Israel. Downtown, lunchtime. One week later)

(Ted 'Ranger' Jameson and Olivia 'Thelambra' D'Alembert are walking through an open-air food court)

**Thelambra** : "To the right, 40 meters. A very powerful psionic."

**Ranger** : "That's Aida."

**Thelambra** (looking in that direction, impressed): "She's a looker!"

**Ranger** : "You should have seen her in 1988."

**Thelambra** : "I still can't believe you stole her from Bob..."

**Ranger** : "I didn't steal her." (beat) "She was 19 when she first met TASK FORCE. In many ways, she was *still* immature then."

**Thelambra** : "What about the people with her? The Sher's?"

**Ranger** : "Judith was Aida's roommate for years until she was married. Judith and her husband agreed to adopt Kara after she was born."

**Thelambra** : "You DO know Judith has a prior history with Dr. Hawkins, as well?"

**Ranger** : "Dr. Shapiro... Dr. Sher, excuse me, was instrumental in helping us deflect an asteroid Mechanon was attempting to hit the Earth with in 1990." (beat) "Dr. Sher and Bob had a very brief -- and torrid -- romance right around that time."

**Thelambra** : "I wonder how well that went over with Julie?"

**Ranger** : "It was before they had started dating." (beat) "She still didn't take it well, as I recall."

(they finally reach a table which is already occupied by Aida "Ha'Pele" Lerner, Judith Sher, and a bearded man sitting close to Judith)

**Ha'Pele** : "Ted! Over here!"

(Ted and Olivia maneuver over to Aida's table and sit down)

**Ranger** (offering his hand to the other occupants): "Ted Jameson. Hi!"

**Neil** (shaking his hand): "Major Neil Sher, retired." (indicating Judith) "My wife, Judith."

**Judith** (nervously): "We've met."

**Thelambra** : "I'm Ted's wife, Olivia."

**Neil/Judith** (shaking her hand in turn): "Hi."

**Ranger** : "How's Kara?"

**Neil** (slowly): "That's... why we wanted you to come over."

**Ranger** : "What's happening?"

**Ha'Pele** : "Our daughter is beginning to manifest powers."

**Ranger** (beat): "Of what kind?"

**Ha'Pele** : "Psionics and pyrokinesis."

**Thelambra** : "That's an unusual combination."

**Ha'Pele** : "MOSSAD agrees with you, Ms. D'Alembert."

(beat)

**Ranger** : "Not to be insulting, but what exactly do you expect me to do?"

**Ha'Pele** : "I don't know, yet." (beat) "I was recruited by MOSSAD when I was 16. I don't want to see my daughter suffer the same fate."

(multiple blaster bolts fire from a balcony off to one side, transfixing several people in the food court. Multiple people, including Mr. Sher, draw sidearms and look for the perps as everyone else dives for cover)

**Ha'Pele** : "NEIL! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

(Ted speed-runs over to one of the victims. He sees the suicide-bomb vest which has been expertly disabled by a pulson blast before the wearer was killed)

**Ranger** (internal monologue): [[somebody just prevented a terrorist attack...]]

(he looks back at the table with Olivia, Aida, and the Shers. A man in Palestinian garb holding an UNTIL pulson rifle has just resolidified next to it)

**Ha'Pele** (looking at the Palestinian): "Abd Al'Mughni!"

(Abd pops the rifle's power cell, racks the action, and sets the rifle down on the table)

**Al'Mughni** (to Aida): "We need to talk, Ha'Pele."

* * *

(Food Court, Tel Aviv. One second later)

**Ha'Pele** (to Al'Mughni): "WHY are you here?"

**Al'Mughni** : "Because there are evils in our world that even Jews and Palestinians must unite to fight!"

**Ranger** (returning to the table): "Like suicide bombers?"

**Al'Mughni** (spitting): "A splinter faction of Hamas. They are without honor, targeting civilians instead of combatants." (beat) "How *else* was I going to get Ha'Pele's attention than by preventing a terrorist attack that I had expressly ORDERED those thugs not to perform?"

(tense pause)

**Al'Mughni** (to Ted): "My business here is no concern of yours, American. Leave us."

**Ranger** (producing his wallet and showing his ID): "For you to seek out a mortal enemy for her help, I'm going to guess that it might be."

**Al'Mughni** (beat): "General Jameson! What brings you to Palestine?"

**Ranger** : "Until a minute ago, I was on vacation."

**Al'Mughni** : "Does PRIMUS have any experience in dealing with Doctor Destroyer since he came back from the dead?"

**Ranger** : "More than you might suspect."

(Aida raises an eyebrow)

**Ha'Pele** (to Olivia): ((there is something concerning Doctor Destroyer which Ted is hiding))

**Thelambra** : ((possibly))

**Ranger** (continuing): "You have found a base of his?"

**Al'Mughni** : "Northwest of Jericho, two nights ago."

(Ted casually glances at Olivia and subtly nods his head toward Abd)

**Thelambra** (to Ted): ((on it, my love))

**Ha'Pele** : "What does he have there?"

**Al'Mughni** : "Lots of walking, metallic skeletons with a shape of shadow within them."

**Ranger** : "Harnessed Shadows."

**Al'Mughni** : "Also, there were at least four giants made of metal and crystal."

**Ranger** : "Shadow Colossi."

**Al'Mughni** : "I also saw a tall female made of shadow and lightning. She strangled two of my fighters before we knew she was there."

**Ranger** : "His new assassin. Oubilette."

**Thelambra** (to Ted): ((I have the coordinates. Shall I excuse myself and get the rest of the team?))

**Ranger** (beat): ((I can't duck out of seeing what's wrong with my daughter. Have Julie plan and execute the strike))

**Ha'Pele** (to Al'Mughni): "Where exactly northwest of Jericho?"

**Al'Mughni** : "A mile north of highway 449, where it goes through the pass north and west of Jericho city. I can be there in two hours with a squad to mark the site for your airstrikes."

**Ha'Pele** : "Realize that my superiors may choose a more hands-on approach to deal with the Destroyer base."

**Al'Mughni** : "However you choose to deal with it, we will provide what assistance we can! Just DEAL with it!!" (beat, collects the pieces of his pulson rifle) "I will be on guard frequency, call sign LIBERATOR, when your strike team arrives on site. We will paint the target if you strike by air, or give you approach/departure paths to all known exits if you come by ground."

(he begins to fade into insubstantibility)

**Al'Mughni** : "May Allah give you strength and guidance."

(Al'Mughni vanishes. Tense pause)

**Ranger** : "I've had worse lunches."

(Aida gives Ted a dirty look)

**Ha'Pele** : "I need to make some phone calls."

* * *

(the Sher house, Tel Aviv. One hour later)

(Ted, Aida, and the Shers are returning from dinner)

**Ha'Pele** : "Olivia took off rather abruptly after our... lunch meeting."

**Ranger** : "She has business here in Tel Aviv. She's setting up a fashion shoot."

**Ha'Pele** (beat): "Right."

(they stop in front of a door)

**Neil** (unlocking the door): "It's not much compared to what you're probably used to, General, but it's home."

**Ranger** : "My condo in Crystal City is actually quite modest compared to what I could afford."

(Mr. Sher opens the door. A thin girl with dark hair is playing the piano in the living room. She registers that people are entering and stops abruptly while turning around)

**Ranger** (internal monologue): [[except for not wearing glasses, she looks like a younger Judith]]

**Girl** : "I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting an audience..."

**Ranger** : "Keep playing! You're very talented."

**Girl** (smiling): "Thank you."

(there is something tantalizingly familiar about her smile)

**Neil** : "General, this is our daughter Jocelyn. Jocelyn, this is General Ted Jameson."

**Jocelyn** (shaking Ted's hand): "Director of PRIMUS, right?"

**Ranger** (surprised): "Yes!"

**Jocelyn** : "I... follow superhero fan sites a lot."

(she giggles nervously and smiles again)

**Ranger** (internal monologue): [[WHERE have I *seen* that smile before?]]

**Ha'Pele** (to Jocelyn): "General Jameson is Kara's biological father."

(Jocelyn looks at Aida, then at Ted)

**Jocelyn** : "Oh!"

(there is a commotion in the hall off to the side, and a short, teen-aged blonde girl walks sullenly in)

**Ha'Pele** : "Hello, Kara."

**Kara** : "What are you doing here?"

**Ha'Pele** : "I'm here with your father to talk with you..."

**Kara** (turning for the kitchen): "I have nothing to say to Neil..."

**Ha'Pele** : "Your BIOLOGICAL father."

(that stops Kara. She makes eye contact with Ted)

**Kara** (to Aida): "Is that who the cowboy is?"

**Ranger** : "I'm Ted Jameson."

(awkward pause)

**Kara** (turning for the kitchen): "Thanks for abandoning me, *Dad*."

(in an abrupt blur of motion, Kara finds herself on the couch)

**Kara** (angry): "What did you just do to me?"

**Ranger** : "We need to talk."

**Kara** : "No, we don't!"

**Ranger** : "You can sit there of your own free will or your mother can paralyze your body below your waist. One way or another, you WILL listen to me."

(tense pause, held gaze)

**Ha'Pele** : ((congratulations, Ted. She's scared of you))

**Ranger** : ((good))

**Ha'Pele** : ((our DAUGHTER is not a military recruit!))

**Ranger** : ((if either Craig or I had behaved to our father the way she did to us and her step-parents just now we would have been belt-whipped to an inch of our lives!))

**Ha'Pele** : ((Israel is not Texas. This decade is not the 1970's))

**Ranger** (absently): ((1960s))

**Ha'Pele** : ((whatever))

**Ranger** : ((what was I supposed to do, Aida? Discipline starts with *respect*! How do you expect Kara to learn discipline when she has no respect for HER OWN PARENTS?!?))

**Ha'Pele** : ((I don't know! I'm a superheroine employed by MOSSAD, not a mother...))

**Kara** : ((hearing every word...))

(the telepathic argument between Aida and Ted comes to a screeching halt. Tense pause)

**Ha'Pele** (angry, to Kara): "Go to your room."

**Kara** : "I don't think I want to anymore. Your conversation's MUCH more fascinating..."

**Ha'Pele** (eyes flaring): ((NOW))

(Kara's eyes flare with power as she attempts to fight her mother's Mind Control. She clenches her jaw, and fights her own body trying to get up from the couch)

**Ha'Pele** (eyes flaring, still not breaking a sweat): ((you can leave under your own power, I can make you frog-march yourself, or your father can carry you back through the Speed Zone. Your choice of humiliation))

**Kara** (eyes returning to normal): "All RIGHT!!"

(she runs off to her bedroom. Awkward pause)

**Ha'Pele** (deadpan): "That went well."

**Ranger** : "Stop channelling Bob."

* * *

(Kara Lerner's bedroom, Sher house. Five minutes later)

(Kara is hunched up on her bed, holding her knees close to her body and rocking while she cries)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Kara?"

**Kara** (beat, hesitatingly): "James?"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "What's wrong?"

**Kara** : "My biological parents are out front. They don't like it that I'm developing powers." (looks around) ((where ARE you? I can't see you...))

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Sorry."

(the shadows over in the corner of her room swim, and Shadow Destroyer materializes)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "I have learned to be somewhat cautious in this timeline." (beat) "Especially when trying to help someone as powerful as you will become."

**Kara** : "You'll... help me learn my powers?"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "I can use someone like you by my side."

**Kara** : "Why?"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "How does it feel to be controlled by your step-parents all the time?"

**Kara** : "I hate it." (beat) "I hate THEM! I wish step-mom and real-mom had never been roommates."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "And how did it feel to be dominated by your real parents and their powers only a few minutes ago."

**Kara** (beat): "I felt abused."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "As well you should."

(Shadow Destroyer glides around to the other side of Kara's bed)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "And you will continue to feel that way for as long as you are less powerful than those who would control and dominate you! You wouldn't want that, would you?"

**Kara** (hesitatingly): "No. No, I wouldn't."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Good."

(he reaches underneath his cape and produces a small circlet, almost like a crown with sparkling jewels at the temples)

**Kara** (fascinated): "What IS that?"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Freedom, Kara. It is a device of my own construction which will unlock even the subconscious restraints you have put on your own powers without being aware of them!"

**Kara** : "How does it work?"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Just put it on for a minute." (beat) "And then no one will ever be able to order you around again."

(tense pause, then Kara sets the circlet on her head)

* * *

(the Sher house. Simultaneous with previous scene)

(Ted steps out of the Sher's house and stops halfway down the stairs to the sidewalk)

**Ranger** (sitting down): "I could have handled that better."

(the door opens again, and Jocelyn steps out)

**Jocelyn** : "Hi, General!"

**Ranger** : "Oh, hi!"

**Jocelyn** : "I'm glad you and Aida are here. Perhaps you'll be able to talk some sense into Kara before she really hurts someone."

**Ranger** : "Well, at least your parents got Aida involved..."

**Jocelyn** (interrupting while sitting down next to him): "General, I was the one who got Aida involved."

(shocked pause)

**Ranger** : "What?"

**Jocelyn** : "Kara's been mind-controlling Mom and Dad for nearly two weeks, now. She'll throw a tantrum, something will burn, one of them will say they're going to call... and then Kara lets them have it mentally!"

**Ranger** : "Why isn't she affecting you?"

**Jocelyn** (confused, shrugging her shoulders): "I don't know." /* I'm guessing it's her DMCV of 10 and 10 points Mental Defense. You know, just like her father and grandfather... ;) */

**Ranger** : "Well, that makes the situation with Kara far more dangerous than I had originally been led to believe."

**Jocelyn** : "I'm sorry, sir..."

**Ranger** : "Don't be. You had enough presence of mind to contact her mother." (beat) "Though I still don't know what good I'll do by coming here. I really hashed things up well and good a moment ago."

**Jocelyn** : "But you're a superhero!"

**Ranger** : "Was, Ms. Sher. Now I'm a father with absolutely no idea of what to do next."

(awkward pause)

**Jocelyn** : "What was it like to be a superhero?"

**Ranger** (beat): "That's... a rather open-ended question."

**Jocelyn** : "Other than Kara's mom, I've never met a superhero before."

**Ranger** : "I'm not sure what I can tell you beyond what you have to have already read online or in your library."

**Jocelyn** : "I was curious. I've only ever had one datapoint in my life for superheroism, and Kara's mom is so atypical for your average superheroine..."

(she trails off awkwardly)

**Ranger** : "I wish I could help you there, but by now I've been a federal bureaucrat for longer than I was a superhero. Sorry."

**Jocelyn** : "That's okay."

(long pause)

**Ranger** : "So what's your story?"

**Jocelyn** : "There's not much to tell, sir. I was born in 1991, I was placed into school early because when I wasn't trying to reprogram Mom and Dad's PC I was attempting to rewire it."

**Ranger** (chuckling): "Starting early, hmm... Are you finishing early, too?"

**Jocelyn** : "I'll be starting Uni later this year, majoring in physics. Angelstone Labs is paying my way with a co-op agreement."

**Ranger** : "Do you know what you'll be doing with them when you graduate?"

**Jocelyn** : "Superpower analysis. If I do well in school, I hope to be working on their support contract with UNTIL."

**Ranger** : "You'll have to move to New York City to do that."

**Jocelyn** : "So? It makes it easier to get away from Mom."

(Ted's eyebrows raise)

**Ranger** : "Oh?"

**Jocelyn** : "It's nothing like what's going on between Kara and my parents, relax."

**Ranger** : "What's your mother doing in your life that makes you want to escape her?"

**Jocelyn** : "She's so... *overprotective* of me all the time! It's like she's trying to shelter me from something." (beat) "Or someone."

**Ranger** : "She might have legitimate reasons for doing so..."

**Jocelyn** : "Sir, there's a whole WORLD full of adventure out there! One that *you* have lived! WHY is she keeping *me* from discovering it?"

**Ranger** (internal monologue): [[so THIS is what the Call To Adventure looks like from the outside]] (vocally) "She only wants what's best for you, Jocelyn. That's what any parent should want for their children." (beat, shakes his head) "My God, I'm beginning to channel my father..."

(Jocelyn giggles)

**Jocelyn** : "Shouldn't you be giving that speech to my sister?"

**Ranger** (smiling): "Maybe I needed a dress rehearsal."

**Jocelyn** : "Are you that uncertain of what to do?"

**Ranger** (beat): "Yes."

(awkward pause)

**Ranger** (continuing): "I've never felt like this before, even fresh out of West Point!" (beat, shakes his head) "Led troops in battle, led superheroes in combat, led VARANYI in combat, lead a major Federal agency, yet I don't have the vaguest idea how to talk to my own daughter!"

**Jocelyn** : "You're talking just fine to me right now."

(Ted starts to say something, then catches himself)

**Ranger** : "I was about to say that you're different, but maybe you're not after all."

**Jocelyn** : "Right now, sir, Kara is confused by what's happening to her. Probably very frightened as well." (beat) "I know I'd be in her situation."

**Ranger** : "That's advice I'd expect from Aida, not a..."

(Ted catches himself again and looks at Jocelyn awkwardly)

**Jocelyn** (deadpan): "A fifteen-year-old girl?"

**Ranger** : "It's hard to see you as only that old when you carry yourself with so much more maturity."

**Jocelyn** : "I practically grew up with the Astronomy Department faculty at Uni. I connected with Mom's co-workers far better than I ever did with my peers..."

(they are both startled by the front door being quietly opened behind them. Aida leans out and toward Ted)

**Ha'Pele** (whispered): "There is an unknown psionic in Kara's bedroom right now."

(Ted's eyes widen in shock, then his face hardens with anger)

**Ranger** (standing up, to Aida): "With me. NOW."

* * *

(Sher house. One second later)

(Ted and Jocelyn creep slowly back into the house behind Aida. Ted points at himself, Aida, and Neil before pointing down the hallway to the bedrooms. Aida nods. So does Neil, as he pulls his service pistol and releases the safety)

**Jocelyn** (whispering): "What are they going to do?"

(Judith pulls Jocelyn behind one of the living room couches. Her eyes are wide with terror)

(Ted, Aida, and Neil creep down the hallway, stopping in front of Kara's closed door. Ted points at the door, looks at Aida, and raises his eyebrows)

(Aida holds up two fingers)

(Ted nods. He looks at Neil and raises an eyebrow. Neil nods, his pistol in a two-handed grip)

(Ted looks at the door, and starts a countdown from three with his fingers. Everyone prepares themselves)

(Ted reaches zero, and shatters the door with a 10d6 kick. Shadow Destroyer has just taken what appears to be some sort of circlet off of Kara's head. Both look surprised.)

(In spite of being surprised, Shadow Destroyer STILL acts first. 60 STR TK slams Aida into the wall opposite Kara's door, CON-stunning her)

(every plate, window, and piece of glassware in the Sher house shatters in unison with a sharp and deafening BOOOM!! Ted blurs and reappears in front of Shadow Destroyer, gasping for breath. Shadow Destroyer has just taken 114 STUN after defenses and, falling to his hands and knees, is CON-stunned)

**Kara** (screaming): "JAMES!!"

(Kara looks at Ted, and her eyes flare with horrible, actinic brightness. Under a horrible compulson, Ted suddenly feels a need to run down the hall, through the living room, and full speed into the brick wall at the opposite end. Without his Time Shift field active. Ted is OUT)

(Neil Sher empties his service pistol into Shadow Destroyer for no damage)

(Shadow Destroyer recovers from being stunned to the sound of bullets pinging off his armor. His retribution is swift... and fatal. Neil Sher's corpse is slammed into the hallway opposite the door to Kara's room, a fist-sized hole punched completely through his chest by the Destroyer-Beam that killed him)

**Shadow Destroyer** (venomously): "Hold me here while you ATTACK MY BASE?!? I DON'T THINK SO!!"

(with a sickly, purplish-black swirl of energy, he vanishes)

**Ha'Pele** (recovering from being stunned): [[I thought the Sayeret-19 attack wasn't supposed to go in until midnight...]]

**Kara** (disraught): "JAMES! Come back! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!!"

**Ha'Pele** (picking herself off the wall): "That man is better known as Doctor Destroyer, Kara. You're deluding yourself thinking he was actually here to help you..."

(Kara's eyes flare with actinic energy. Flames ignite around her body, surrounding her yet not hurting her)

**Kara** (with growing anger): "You will TAKE THAT BACK about my James!"

(Aida attempts to stem the rising tide of raw psionic energy Kara is launching at her. Foot by foot, Kara drives Aida back down the hall into the living room)

**Kara** (disraught): "James was the only adult who really CARED about me. Is that why you and your boyfriend tried to kill him just now?!?"

**Ha'Pele** : "Doctor Destroyer just killed your father, Kara..."

**Kara** (interrupting, screaming): "NEIL SHER WASN'T MY FATHER!" (beat) "He wasn't even JOCELYN'S father! I can see that as clearly as a newspaper headline in dear old Judith's mind!"

**Ha'Pele** (internal monologue): [[oh, CRAP. Not now!!]]

(Judith's eyes flame with anger. For the first time in her life, she finds the strength to overcome her natural fear)

**Judith** (raising her hand to slap Kara): "You will TAKE THAT BACK..."

**Kara** (casually, eyes flaring): "Shut up, Judith."

(Judith is suddenly incapable of speaking)

**Jocelyn** (angry): "Kara, stop it with the LIES! Neil Sher was my father!"

**Kara** : "No, he WASN'T!" (beat) "Haven't you ever wondered why you're so good at Math and Science?"

**Jocelyn** : "Mom's an astronomy professor. Duh."

**Kara** : "That's not the whole reason." (beat) "How about your musical skills?"

(Jocelyn is speechless)

**Kara** : "Neil couldn't carry a tune in a bucket when he was alive, and the less said about dear old Judith in the shower the better! Yet *you* sing like an angel and play the piano like a prodigy!" (beat) "Where did THOSE talents come from, Einstein?"

**Jocelyn** (small voice): "Stranger things have happened."

**Kara** : "There's nothing strange about your true parentage. Merely a matter of timing." (looks at Judith) "RIGHT, Judith?"

(Judith slowly backs away from Kara. She looks terrified)

**Kara** : "Are you going to tell us, or do I have to do it for you?" (beat) "Oh, right. I MUTED you! Silly me..."

(beat, then Jocelyn runs from the room)

**Kara** (yelling after her): "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM THE TRUTH, JOCELYN!!"

(tense pause, then she turns toward Ted's unconscious form by the wall. She is now quite drunk with her newfound power as she looks at him)

**Kara** (flames around her body intensifying): "An eye for an eye. Isn't that what the old religious texts said?"

**Ha'Pele** : "That's not all they said."

(she interposes herself between Kara and Ted's body)

**Ha'Pele** : "They also spoke about how you should honor your father and mother." (beat) "Is THIS how you want to honor us?"

**Kara** : "He HURT James!!"

**Ha'Pele** : "His NAME is Albert Zerstoiten! He killed himself and the City of Detroit FOURTEEN YEARS ago, then somehow dragged himself out of Hell and the afterlife four years ago!!"

**Kara** (shaking her head, confused): "No..."

**Ha'Pele** : "If you can't -- or won't -- believe me, read your father's mind! He was AT Detroit that day!!"

**Kara** (screaming): "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!"

(her psionics and pyrokinesis flare simultaneously. Aida takes 1 BODY and 10 STUN, grimaces in pain, but holds her ground in front of Ted. As a not-really-tactically-beneficial side effect, the compulsion muting Judith has now been dropped. Tense pause)

**Kara** : "Mother?"

**Ha'Pele** : "Yes, Kara?"

**Kara** (flames around her building to another crescendo): "Step aside."

**Ha'Pele** : "If you want to kill your father, you'll have to kill your mother as well." (beat) "Is that something you can live with?"

(tense pause)

**Kara** : "Yes."

**Judith** (shrieking): "JOCELYN! NO!!"

(before Kara can immolate Aida and Ted, Jocelyn runs up right next to Kara and lets her have it with a full discharge from a fire extinguisher)

(Kara's flames go out as she collapses to her hands and knees gasping for air. She looks at Jocelyn in disbelief before Jocelyn hits her over the head with a savage blow from the now-empty extingusher. Kara drops unconscious)

(long pause, held gaze between Jocelyn and Aida)

**Jocelyn** : "I don't know how long that's going to keep her unconscious and depowered..."

**Aida** (looking at Kara, eyes flaring): "Long enough, child. Long enough."

* * *

(the Sher house. Half an hour later)

(Ted comes to, his head being cradled by Olivia. Aida looks burned and singed)

**Ha'Pele** : "I told you he'd live, Ms. d'Alembert."

**Ranger** : "Wha... what happened?"

**Thelambra** : "Aida tells me you were mind-controlled to run into a brick wall."

**Ha'Pele** : "Head-first." (beat, accusingly) "I TOLD you our daughter was manifesting psionic powers and did you even THINK to pack a psionic jammer?"

**Ranger** (sitting up): "The TSA confiscated it at Dulles. I'm scheduled to talk with their head when I get back."

**Ha'Pele** : "You're lucky you'll still be having that meeting."

**Ranger** : "What happened to Kara?"

**Ha'Pele** : "She got taken down."

**Ranger** : "By you?"

**Ha'Pele** : "No. By Jocelyn."

**Ranger** : "Jocelyn?"

**Ha'Pele** : "She hit Kara with the contents of a fire extinguisher, then hit her over the head with it when it was empty."

(beat, then Ranger shakes his head)

**Ranger** : "Damn." (beat) "Does she have a death wish?"

**Ha'Pele** : "She improvised with what she knew and what was available, and didn't hesitate when it counted." (beat) "If she wasn't so determined to become a superheroine, she'd make an incredible MOSSAD agent."

**Ranger** : "From what you've told me, I don't doubt that."

(he rubs his head. It still hurts)

**Ranger** : "So where is Kara now?"

**Ha'Pele** : "In her bedroom, in a coma until your wife can operate on her psionically."

**Ranger** : "Why Olivia and not you?"

**Ha'Pele** : "I don't trust myself with our daughter's brain. Not with what she's capable of doing." (beat) "We want what's best for her, don't we?"

**Ranger** (internal monologue): [[where have I heard that before?]]

**Thelambra** (to Aida): "May I have some time with my husband before we attend to your daughter?"

**Ha'Pele** : "Certainly."

(Aida leaves)

**Ranger** : ((the assault?))

**Thelambra** : ((the base near Jericho is destroyed, and we came *this* close to nailing Doctor Destroyer))

**Ranger** : ((oh?))

**Thelambra** : ((he teleported in right at the beginning of our attack, looking like someone worked him over *really* good))

**Ranger** : ((that would have been me. Destroyer was attempting to recruit my daughter)) (beat) ((he got away, I take it?))

**Thelambra** : ((we actually knocked him out, but Destroyer's servants teleported away with him before we could secure him))

**Ranger** : ((damn))

**Thelambra** : ((Robert has been swearing fluently in five languages non-stop since we got back to Dormyer Manor))

**Ranger** : ((I don't blame him)) (beat) ((wait. English, German, Varanyi, Japanese... what's the fifth language?))

**Thelambra** : ((it seems to be some sort of computer language)) /* it's Perl, Olivia... */

**Ranger** : ((sounds like Bob))

(he gets to his feet slowly)

**Thelambra** (helping him): "Careful. You're still suffering the aftereffects of the concussion."

**Ranger** : "I'll be fine."

(they embrace and kiss)

**Ranger** : "Please heal my daughter."

**Thelambra** : "I will."

* * *

(Ben-Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel. Two days later)

(Aida is walking with Ted and Olivia up to the security checkpoint for their gate)

**Ranger** : "So what happened with the intelligence Al'Mughni gave you?"

**Ha'Pele** : "Officially, I can't tell you."

**Ranger** : "Unofficially?"

**Ha'Pele** (beat): "You know those rumors of a black-ops UNTIL superhero team hunting down Doctor Destroyer?"

**Ranger** : "I've heard them." (beat) "Don't tell me YOU believe them..."

**Ha'Pele** : "SOMEBODY beat our Sayeret-19 team to the Destroyer-base night before last. Superhuman and *very* high-powered, judging from the after-action analysis."

**Ranger** : "Doctor Destroyer had some very powerful enemies back in the day. Some of whom are still active."

**Ha'Pele** : "But none with the ability to control and harness theta-bosons."

(stunned pause)

**Ranger** : "What?"

**Ha'Pele** : "Our tech boffins got a hit for residual theta-boson radiation at the battle site."

**Ranger** : "Destroyer built a theta-boson based wormhole generator for his attack on Detroit in 1992. Are your techies *sure* it wasn't something being worked on at that base?"

**Ha'Pele** : "No. But that doesn't mean they're ruling out any other options, either."

**Ranger** : "Well, THAT'S an interesting development..."

(the conversation trails off)

**Thelambra** : "So what's going to happen with Kara."

**Ha'Pele** (sighing): "She starts basic training tomorrow for MOSSAD."

**Ranger** : "That's not what you wanted for our daughter."

**Ha'Pele** : "What choice did I have, Ted? The circuit-breakers your wife installed on her powers won't last. She HAS to learn how to control her powers *somehow*."

(by now, they have reached the security checkpoint)

**Thelambra** (giving Ted a quick kiss on a cheek): "I'll go on through. I'll be waiting for you."

(Olivia enters the queue)

**Ha'Pele** : "She's been good for you."

**Ranger** : "I know."

**Ha'Pele** : "Better than I would have been."

**Ranger** : "You don't know that."

(long pause, held gaze)

**Ranger** : "Olivia told me after Kara's mental surgery that you had her remove a certain memory from Jocelyn as well."

**Ha'Pele** (internal monologue): [[Oh, CRAP!]] (beat, looking at Ted) "Yes, I did."

**Ranger** : "Why?"

(tense pause)

**Ha'Pele** : "Kara was about to tell Jocelyn who her father really was."

(shocked pause)

**Ranger** : "What?!?"

**Ha'Pele** : "Judith and Jocelyn need each other right now. The last thing they need is the additional trauma that will come from revealing who her father really is."

**Ranger** (beat): "Someone I know?"

(awkward pause)

**Ha'Pele** (coldly): "I expected better of you, General."

**Ranger** : "Sorry." (beat) "She'll need to know, someday."

**Ha'Pele** : "When she is an adult and on her own, Ted. Not *now*, with her father dead and her stepsister... taking up the family business."

**Airport PA** : "NOW BOARDING ALL ROWS FOR FLIGHT 248 TO PARIS. ALL ROWS FOR FLIGHT 248."

**Ranger** (beat): "Gotta go."

(Aida embraces Ted)

**Ha'Pele** : "Good-bye."

**Ranger** : "Bye."

(Ted goes through the checkpoint and joins Olivia on the other side. Aida continues looking in that direction, seeing not 2006 but 1990)

**Ha'Pele** (murmured): "How much better would our lives have been if we had *all* controlled our baser instincts?"

(she turns and joins the mob of passengers heading for the airport's exit)

* * *

(fin)


End file.
